Ferrari and Toyota have conceded the World Endurance Championship drivers’ title to Porsche with one race left to run after Sunday’s Fuji round.
The two manufacturers chasing the German marque in the Hypercar classification have admitted that their chances of taking the crown at November’s Bahrain finale are over after points leaders Lauren Vanthoor, Andre Lotterer and Kevin Estre took victory in the penultimate round of the series in Japan.
There are 39 points up for grabs over the Bahrain 8 Hours WEC weekend on 2 November and the Ferrari crew of Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen and Antonio Fuoco have fallen 35 points in arrears of the Porsche drivers, while Toyota’s Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries are 37 points back.
“For me it is game over,” said Ferrari sportscar racing technical director Ferdinando Cannizzo after the Italian manufacturer’s championship-challenging crew could only finishing ninth in their 499P Le Mans Hypercar at Fuji.
“I’m not saying we are giving up – we will try to work miracles,” he added. “We need to have the car at its best, make everything perfect and put three cars on the podium.
“Mathematically it is possible, but the chances are very poor.”
Cannizzo also suggested that Ferrari’s chances of taking the manufacturers’ title were over after the marque fell 27 points behind Porsche at Fuji.
David Floury, Cannizzo’s counterpart at Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe, offered a similar opinion following a non-score for the Toyota GR010 HYBRID LMH Kobayashi and de Vries share with Mike Conway after the first-named crashed with Porsche driver Matt Campbell.
Conway is fourth in the classification, tied with Campbell and team-mates Michael Christensen and Frederic Makowieci, after missing the Le Mans 24 Hours in June through injury.
“Clearly for the drivers’ championship we are more or less out of contention,” Floury said.
#7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 – Hybrid: Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, Nyck de Vries, #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer, Laurens Vanthoor
Photo by: Andreas Beil
But the Frenchman insists that there is all to play for in the manufacturer’s championship in which Toyota are only 10 points adrift of Porsche.
“It is still open in Bahrain and for sure we will be pushing,” he added.
Estre asserts that it will be important for him and his team-mates to keep their “feet on the ground” in Bahrain.
“You can never be confident because if we have a bad race and one of the others has a perfect race, they can win,” he told Motorsport.com.
“We can be confident that if we keep doing what we have been doing the whole year we will have a very good shot and we don’t need to risk anything.”
Should the Ferrari win in Bahrain and take pole position, then Estre and his team-mates would only need to finish eighth to seal the title.
If the Toyota was to win and take the point for pole, then they would only be required to finish 10th, which would give them the title on countback with more second places.